Second Chances
by xGhostGirl96x
Summary: Percy Jackson, hero of Olympus, struggles to cope with the loss of his friends after the war. But, in a feverish dream, one of them prophesies a new challenge in his life. Will this mean the return of Kronos? Or something much worse? Some mild language (what can you do?) and intimate relations. Mpreg (not slash), Percabeth with some hints at Percianca, ooohh (after Last Olympian)
1. Chapter 1 - August

**Author's Note: This is just a little story I wrote a few months ago as practice. Along with the overall plot, I include a lot of things that I wished had happened in the Percy Jackson series (the original five books). Thank you for taking the time to read my story and enjoy! (oh, I almost wrote "bon appetit"...ughhh... I can tell this is gonna go GREAT)**

He couldn't sleep. Swimming was usually his forte, but not swimming in his own sweat. That was a completely different story. A really gross story.

Percy Jackson was unlike any other seventeen-year-old boy in the world. Being the only child of the sea god has that effect. He had traveled across the country (mostly underground or through the air) and defeated monster after monster that had threatened the people he loved most. And last summer, he had, with the help of his countless friends, defeated the biggest threat this world had ever seen: Kronos, Lord of Time, the king of the Titans.

For weeks after their battle on Mount Olympus, Percy would awake in a terror, visions of death and destruction flashing through his mind like lightning. All the friends who had lost their lives to save his would appear to him in his dreams and each one left him feeling like he had been stabbed straight through. He would awake from the sheer pain of seeing their smiling faces, the rosiness of their skin, the tenderness of their breath. In life, all of these things had seemed so meaningless and insignificant, but now that they were all gone the small details were all he could think about.

On these nights, Percy's best friend Grover, who would sometimes pass the Poseidon Cabin in the night on his way to a quick pee, would hear Percy's shrieks and run for help. Grover was a satyr, with goat legs blending into a human torso, fur fading gently into skin. Loyalty and determination were some of his best qualities. He was, though, admittedly, a little horny - due to the two horns sprouting from the top of his curly head.

Whenever Percy was having one of his fits, Grover would always alert Percy's girlfriend, Annabeth. She would rush over to the cabin, still in her pajamas, and would ease him back into a calmness he could only feel when he was with her. Percy would be on the chilled stone floor beside his bed, trembling, his cheeks caked in salt, until her gentle arms would wrap themselves around him and her sweet lips would plant kisses on his head and along his nose.

Annabeth was beautiful, with untamed blond curls and powerful grey eyes. Not a hard, stony kind of grey; more of a stormy grey - warm and dangerous. She got these eyes from her mother, the goddess Athena. Her big brain and smart-assedness were also gifts from her dear mother. Percy, in the same respect, had gotten his father's sea green eyes and shaggy black hair, as well as his general disregard for rules and restrictions of any sort.

Percy cherished these nights, when he would come out of a dark, fear-ridden stupor to find himself alone in his room with Annabeth, encased in her arms, her breath still minty from brushing, her voice tender in his ear.

"It's okay, Percy," she would whisper. "You're okay."

"No," he would hear himself say. "They're all dead…. It's all my fault…."

She would murmur more "no's" and bury her face in his neck, sealing each word with a grace from her soft, rosy lips.

One night, he just couldn't take it anymore. He pressed his lips onto hers, hard, in a fierce desperation he had been struggling to restrain, but it had burst forth from him like a geyser, unafraid of rejection. And she did not reject him. She kissed him back, with as much ferocity.

That night, swimming in sweat hadn't been all that bad. The only downside to that otherwise perfect night was that he couldn't tell anybody - at Camp Halfblood, it was strictly forbidden for a male and female camper to be alone together, and especially to engage in… certain romantic activities. Not that he had ever really cared about rules - it was in his blood not to. But he did care about getting kicked out (he just hoped none of the gods had been watching invisibly).

That night, he had fallen asleep in Annabeth's arms and didn't wake again until the sun was well into the summer sky, until after she had already gone.

But, tonight, sleep seemed, once again, an unconquerable foe.

He kicked off his sheets, but it didn't seem to help. He was still boiling. And his stomach felt as if he had swallowed the back end of a chimera.

He got up and dashed to the corner, where the gorgeous fountain that had been a gift from his father - beautiful, solid stone, and rainbow waters - stood proud and bubbling, and, without restraint, he vomited into it, repeatedly. Wave after wave of nausea crashed over him until he could barely lift his head.

The great, fearless Percy Jackson. Defeated by the flu.

Oh, the irony.

 **Yay! You've finished the first chapter! Comments are encouraged. And sorry about the really bad Grover joke... Usually I edit those kinds of jokes out, but I thought it was just too funny to get rid of. I like to make myself laugh :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Annabeth suggested he contact his mom. It had been an entire week and he was still horribly ill.

He did nothing but lay in bed all day long, occasionally getting up to puke again or to go to the bathroom. Sometimes he would be hit with a terrible hunger and would rush to the dining pavilion, his sweaty pajamas clinging to his legs and his messy hair stiff with knots. And if no meals were being served, he would delve into his secret snack stash under his bed. But he'd always just end up puking up anything he ate, anyway.

He had never felt so awful in his life. He spent most of the day sleeping, and most of the night wishing he could sleep but being physically incapable.

At one time, he was vaguely conscious of Tyson in his room - he had opened his eyes to see his enormous half-brother crouched over the fountain, scrubbing it clean. He felt a terrible remorse, but before he could say anything he had slipped from consciousness again.

And, this time, he dreamed about _her_.

He'd thought the dreams had stopped. Once Annabeth's almost nightly visits had become their unspoken tradition, the terrible nightmares had ceased. It had been months since he'd dreamed about one of them, one of the many friends he had lost. He had finally been able to sleep soundly again.

But here she was.

Her clothes and hair were smoky and transparent, her skin like fresh steam. She was hard to see against the white walls of the doorless room, like they were inside of an eggshell. Only her eyes were dark and solid-looking, mysterious and deep just as they had been in life. She smiled sweetly, her foggy lashes waving at him.

"Hello, Percy," she said, her voice airy though he knew she no longer held any breath. "It's been a while."

He inhaled with difficulty - his chest felt heavy even in his dreams. But...maybe this wasn't really a dream? The other spirits he had dreamt of had been real, hadn't they?

"Bianca," he said. "Is it really you?" She nodded. He hesitated, nervous. "And the others…?"

"The other spirits were real, too. I know you dreamed about them for a period last summer. But they've all settled now. They won't bother you again."

"Why are you here?"

"To see you, of course," she said, her words and the smoke of her clothes washing over him. He'd always liked his dreams about her the best. He felt a deep hidden longing stirring inside of him that he couldn't explain. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but he knew better. He'd dealt with spirits before - his hand would pass through her like she was made of water. Even if she was here she wasn't really _here_.

Her voice suddenly took on a more serious tone: "Something is about to happen, Percy. Something big."

"Something big _did_ just happen," he urged.

"I know. You defeated the Lord of Time." He hoped he wasn't blushing - he hadn't even thought of Kronos. He'd been thinking of that first night with Annabeth and all those wonderful nights that had followed. "But something else is coming. A new challenge. One you and Annabeth must face together, though it is much more your journey than hers."

"What do you mean," he asked. "What's coming?"

"You will find out soon enough." Her smile was ominous, almost mischievous. "You will face many hardships over the coming months. Although, the choice is ultimately yours whether or not you will accept this new quest. But, if you do, the rewards will be plenty."

"I've never taken on a quest based on the reward. I do it if it's the right thing to do."

"You are quite noble, but you may very well change your mind on this one."

"Can't you just tell me?" he whined.

She chuckled a little, spasmodic giggles rippling through her like she'd been struggling with difficulty to restrain them but no longer could. Her form flickered a little. Percy had almost forgotten that she was just the intangible spirit of a twelve-year-old girl who had died years ago, a girl who he wished he had gotten to know more thoroughly, a girl who's living brother now haunted the shadows as if he, too, were a ghost. Percy had wanted to forget. He wanted her to be alive.

"No, Seaweed Brain," she giggled.

"Only Annabeth calls me that."

She nodded again, pleased. "You're loyal to her. Good. You're going to need that. You'll realize soon, Percy, that relationships are the most valuable treasure that we have." Her smile faded. "I wish that I had known that sooner. I gave up my relationship with Nico for personal freedom, a tie which, once broken, I could never fix. I lost him...and in losing him I lost myself…." She flickered away again, disappearing for a full few seconds this time. When she came back, her sad eyes were staring straight into Percy's, driving into his soul like nails.

She stepped closer. "Think about that, Percy." Think about what? She seemed foggier than normal and he suddenly realized that everything around him was melting away; he was waking up. He stepped closer to her, so close that if she'd had any breath he would've been able to feel every bit of it.

But she seemed earnest, like she wanted an answer from him, so he said, "I will."

And just as the world began to drop away around him, she jumped up and pressed her lips hard against his. She was surprisingly solid, composing herself for just this one moment of purity and passion.

She stepped back, smiling at him, with his eyes still wide and his lips frozen where hers had left them. "Thank you for this, Percy," she said, a ghostly tear falling down her cheek like a drop of milk. "Thank you for giving me a second chance."

Before he could unpucker his still frozen lips and process what she'd said, the world fell away completely, shattering into bits to leave him floating in a crushing darkness, alone.

He opened his eyes to find his lips were sticking out in the waking world as well. He didn't even register that he wasn't in his cabin. All he could think about were Bianca's last words. What was it she had said? Something about a second chance?

A second chance at what?

 **So, did I mention I'm a HUGE Percianca shipper? Well, there it is.**


	3. Chapter 3

Percy woke up in the hospital, wires snaking out of his arm, a monitor beeping somewhere off to his left. His mom, Sally, was standing next to him, stroking his hand.

When he opened his eyes, her mouth slid into a half-smile.

"What were you dreaming about," she inquired. She answered his confused look with: "You were making faces."

"It was just…." He hesitated. He'd just noticed Annabeth in the corner, curled in a chair like a rose, fast asleep, though she didn't look very comfortable. Shame frothed in his chest as he remembered the steamy kiss he'd just dreamed of with another girl. But it was just a dream, right? And, besides, Bianca was dead. She'd been dead for a long time.

He looked back at his mom. "Nothing. It was nothing, Mom."

Her smirk suggested she didn't believe him, but she didn't question any further.

"Mom," he asked. "Why am I here? What happened to me?"

She took a deep breath. "I wish you'd called me sooner and told me you weren't feeling well. I could've arranged for you to come home."

"I didn't want to bother you."

She shook her head. "You are anything but a bother to me, Percy.

"From what I've heard, you've done almost nothing but sleep for several days at Camp. Annabeth and Grover called Tyson away from his work to have him come and comfort you. They knew I couldn't come into Camp to see you - I'm only a mortal, after all. But he could, and they knew you needed family. He found you unconscious in bed, feverish and unresponsive. He carried you to the nearest hospital.

"Honey, you were _severely_ malnourished. Have you been eating anything at all?"

"I've been trying, but it all just comes back up."

She sighed. "Well, the doctors said your fluid levels were incredible for your condition. No surprise there, right," and she attempted to share a smile with her son, who looked so helpless and feeble in that moment, though he carried the unlimited power of the sea in his blood. Percy let out an airy chuckle, his stomach still too sensitive for a full laugh.

Her smile faded as quickly as it had come, replaced with strong concern. "You've lost almost seven pounds…. I can see your cheekbones…."

She then frowned, almost angrily. "Don't ever do this to me again, Percy. I mean… monsters and titans, I can forgive. I understand that. It's something only you can deal with. But the _flu_? One _this_ bad?" She shook her head at him. "It's okay to ask for help if you need it, Percy. It's okay to admit your own mortality."

He closed his eyes. "I didn't want to be a bother…."

She didn't answer this time. She just sighed.

The door opened and a doctor slipped in, clutching a clipboard to his chest. "Ms. Blofis?"

Sally stood. "Yes?"

He glanced down at Percy. "How is he doing?"

"You tell me, Mr. _Doctor_ ," she replied acidly.

But he merely chuckled. "May I have a word with you, Ms. Blofis? In my office?"

"What about?"

"A… new development in your son's condition."

She crossed her arms. "I'd rather not leave his side."

"In the hallway, then? You'll be just there outside the door."

She hesitated, but gave in. Sally and the doctor made their exit, and the sound of the door closing behind them caused Annabeth to stir.

She sleepily looked around the room, her half-opened eyes coming to rest on Percy.

He smiled at her. "Hey, sweetie."

She smiled at him and stretched. "Look who's finally up."

"I could say the same about you."

"Shut up."

She made her way over to the bed, bending down to give him a kiss. He wanted nothing more than to pull her onto the bed with him and to melt into her, but he knew he couldn't. He was too weak, and, besides, there was probably a camera or something in the room. But a boy can dream. Even a boy who's half god.

She stared at him, studying his face. Strands of her long hair tickled his nose, but he said nothing.

"I can see your cheekbones," she observed, stroking one as if to emphasize her point. He caught her hand and pressed it to his lips.

"So I've heard," he mumbled against her knuckles.

"We had capture the flag without you on Friday. We missed you. Ares almost won, curse them."

"I'm sorry."

"Well… I'm just glad you're getting the help you need."

He grinned, his green eyes sparkling. "I love you, Wise Girl."

She brushed her hair back behind her ear, off of his face. "You, too, Seaweed Brain."

He sighed contentedly. This was right. This was where he belonged. Not in a hospital room, per say, but here in Annabeth's arms, with the two of them bouncing their attitudes off each other, so close he could feel their breath crossing in the air above him.

Nothing could change that. Not even dreams about kissy ghosts with bad omens. Nope.

The door opened again, swinging around to crash into the wall with a loud bang, causing Percy to nearly jump out of his skin.

"Are you calling me a liar?" the doctor accused, though he was surprisingly calm as he did so, as he and Sally made their way back into the room.

"No," Sally shrieked. "But you've obviously made some kind of mistake!"

"Maybe you should talk to your son before assuming I've made an error."

"What's this about," Annabeth asked, her eyebrows scrunched together with concern.

"It's none of your business," Sally snapped at her.

"Well," the doctor stated, still cool as a cucumber, "in this case, I believe it actually _is_ very much her business."

"Mom," Percy started to ask.

But she just shook her head. "It's nothing. Don't you worry about it."

"Perseus," the doctor asked over Sally's shoulder, causing both mother and son to flinch at the sound of his full first name. "Maybe you could clear this up for us?"

Percy sat up weakly. "Yeah. Shoot."

"Are you sexually active?"

At this, Annabeth said, exasperated, "Excuse me? That's quite a question!"

Sally said, "Percy would've been honest with me if he was. We tell each other everything. Don't we, Percy?"

Percy couldn't think of a response. Of course he didn't tell her about him and Annabeth, about the nights he had held her in the security of the dark. There were just some things you couldn't tell your mother.

The doctor nodded, satisfied with Percy's lack of reply. His mother, on the other hand, looked positively livid.

"Percy…" she choked. "No…."

"What?" he asked, confused.

The doctor simply stated, "Percy, we aren't sure if you're aware or not, but it has come to our attention that you may be expecting."

Annabeth went pale, but Percy was still processing what he'd just heard.

"Expecting… what?"

"You're pregnant."

 **I am notorious for cliffhangers. Sorry.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Alright, so I hate long author's notes, so I'll try to keep this short and let you get on to the chapter. I just want to thank everyone for all the support! I just thought I'd post a stupid little story I wrote months ago, and maybe, like, two people would actually see it, but within fifteen minutes of posting the first chapter people were already excited about it. So, THANK YOU. I've been trying to write a book lately (VERY DAUNTING WORK DON'T DO IT) and this was the confidence boost I needed.**

 **Also, if this story has any likeness to any other story on this site, that is 100% unintentional. I would never steal from anyone, just as I'd expect no one to steal from me. I respect what you guys do here way too much.**

 **Thank you.**

"You'd be about two months along, I think. We'd have to do further tests to be sure."

Percy put a hand on his flat stomach, still trying to crank through the words with his half-dead brain. What had he said? Pregnant? What does that mean again?

It meant that a little bit of Annabeth was growing inside of him. It meant that he was more alive than he'd ever been before, that he was now two lives packed into one, like two peanuts crammed into the same shell.

It meant that Athena and Poseidon were about to shit some godly bricks.

Annabeth's knuckles were white against the bars on his bed. Her eyes zoomed around the room, but they were fogged over.

The doctor brushed off his coat, trying to regain calm in the room. "I talked to you first, Ms. Blofis, because he is still a minor, so you have _some_ authority in his life, but the decision about the baby is ultimately his. Frankly, I'd like to hear what _he_ thinks about all of this." He turned to look at Percy, raising his eyebrows. The other two also looked at him expectantly.

Percy was still holding his stomach, still processing the possibility that there was now something more in there than just blood and guts. Something magical.

Bianca had been right when she'd said something big was coming. Their whole smokey dream conversation now made perfect sense to Percy - except for that last part about the "second chance". He still didn't understand that. But everything about the journey, the hardships… and the reward.

Was a baby a worthwhile reward?

He knew no one would understand if he wanted to keep it. Was it better to just get rid of it? That's how Annabeth and his mom were acting. Maybe that's why Bianca had brought up her relationship with Nico. Maybe she didn't want Percy to throw away this baby like she had thrown away her brother. Was this baby important? Was it special? Did all of that even matter?

By the gods, this was his baby. Special or not, it was precious. It was something that needed protecting.

He didn't know why, but he started to smile.

Both women rushed toward Percy with a chorus of "no's". Their behavior was getting on his nerves. He suddenly felt a strength that had evaded him for days surge inside of him.

He said, "It's _my_ decision. It's _my_ body. It's _my_ baby."

"Well, Percy, it's actually _my_ baby, too," Annabeth countered. "Think about _that_."

Percy closed his eyes, tired. "Can I speak to Annabeth about this privately for a minute? Please?"

"No," his mom said, but the doctor started to steer her out of the room and stated with a grin, "Of course. Take your time."

Once they were gone, Annabeth rounded on Percy, her fury not having died off quite yet.

"You're not seriously considering this?!"

"Annabeth…."

"It's completely illogical, Percy! It's delusional! You can't take care of a baby! You can't even remember to change your underpants!"

"Annabeth."

"And, Percy, you're only seventeen -!"

"So are you!" At this, her rant seemed to get caught in her throat. She just stood there, mid-fury, glaring at him. "Look, Annabeth - I _want_ this. I don't know why and I can't explain it, but… I just do. This is my _baby_. And you guys are treating it like it's a tumor or something. Without even asking me how I feel about it."

"Well, then, Percy, how do you feel about it?" she asked moodily.

"I feel like I want to have this baby."

"We could wait a few years. We could have a baby when we're older, when we're ready. We're not ready, Percy."

"I'm not asking you if you're ready. The point is that _I am_. And I don't want just any baby. I want _this_ baby."

"Why this baby?! What differentiates this baby from any other baby we could have?!"

"I don't know…. It's just… something someone told me in a dream…."

She sighed. "Percy… you're not thinking straight. You've got… pregnancy brain."

"Annabeth, you know better than I do that's just a myth."

"Look around you, Perseus! We live in a _world_ of myths! We _are_ myths, for gods' sakes!"

"Then isn't it time that we had something real?" He grabbed her hand and placed it against his flat stomach. "This is _real_ , Annabeth. Don't you _feel_ it?"

She looked at him, sadly, her grey eyes storming gently, and shook her head. "There's nothing there, Percy. I don't feel anything."

" _I_ do." She took her hand away and stared at the floor, the fiery storm gone from her eyes. Percy leaned closer to her. "Annabeth… after everyone we've lost… I don't think I could stand losing another life. When I look back on it, all we've ever done is destroy things. Don't you want to _create_ something? Give something back? You're an architect, damn it. Don't you want to build something with me?"

She stared at him for a few moments, something stirring behind her eyes. She looked almost pained. She leaned forward, slowly, and gently placed her lips against his forehead.

And then, without another glance or a single word, she walked right out the door.

 **Alright, so I know it's another cliffhanger. You can expect a lot of those, mwa ha ha.**

 **But I'd just like to clarify one last thing: this mpreg story is just that. It's just about a male having a baby. Honestly, the fact that Percy is the one having the baby will have very little impact on the story. I just love playing around with the idea of men carrying babies rather than women. So, if you were expecting some yaoi or slash or a graphic birth scene, I'm sorry to disappoint you. But I still love you 3**

 **ALWAYS**


	5. Chapter 5

**Again, thanks for the support! And - just to clarify - this is an alternate universe where men carry the babies instead. Thank you.**

Percy recovered fairly quickly after that - spurred now by the knowledge of the true nature of his condition - and within a couple of days he was allowed to return home.

He wasn't all that keen on returning with his mother, though, after what had transpired with her in the hospital room, so, first chance he got, he left to return to Camp Halfblood, leaving nothing but a short note behind.

After a (thankfully) brief ride on the Chariot of Damnation, Percy was climbing the grassy crest of Halfblood Hill. He stopped at Thalia's Tree to pet Peleus, the young dragon guarding it. The Golden Fleece dangled from the branches of the huge pine, looking like a giant hairy fruit, glowing like the sun and renewing Percy's ebbing sense of optimism.

Peleus nuzzled Percy's chest with his big, scaly head and he held the creature to his body, the dragon's scales refreshingly cold through his orange t-shirt.

When Percy was done saying hello, he made his way down the hill and was greeted by another friendly beast: his gargantuan hell hound Mrs. O'Leary. She had been a gift from a friend who had been lost years ago, another person who had given his life to Percy. These days, it seemed everything in his life was yet another reminder of all the souls lost to the Underworld just so he, Percy - some no-good, stupid, ADHD-ridden kid from the desolate streets of New York City - could have his fifteen minutes of fame on Olympus, only to hand the knife over to Luke and allow him to kill himself, as yet another head on Percy's shoulders, another sacrifice that had earned Percy more honor that he didn't deserve.

Usually when Mrs. O'Leary saw him, she would rush over and pounce on him, slobbering all over him with her blanket-sized tongue. His natural son-of-the-sea-god powers usually allowed him to avoid getting wet, but this somehow did not apply to hell hound saliva.

But, today, when she rushed over to him, long strings of slobber trailing behind her like ropes, she stopped short in confusion. She sniffed him, curiously.

"Do I smell like the hospital, girl," he asked her. "Or… can you tell something's different?"

In response, she sat down - causing a small crater beneath her - and cocked her head to one side inquisitively. He reached up and scratched her ears, to which she closed her eyes contentedly and gave him a tiny kiss on the cheek. Small as this peck was to her, it hit Percy like a basketball to the face, but he just shook it off. He was used to it.

He soon became aware of another giant creature making its way toward him - his baby brother Tyson, barreling forward on his huge feet, his enormous muscled arms spread wide in what was sure to be a very crunchy hug.

"Tyson, be careful," Percy warned urgently. "Be gentle with me, Big Guy!"

"Gentle" to Tyson apparently meant snapping Percy almost in half, but it was filled with love, so Percy couldn't blame him.

Tyson stepped back and looked at Percy, a tear spilling out of the side of his one, calf-brown eye.

"I was very scared, Percy," he cried. "When you were sleeping you would not wake up even when I screamed. And I screamed loud. Like this -!"

And he inhaled deeply, opening his mouth wide, preparing to screech, an act which would surely attract the attention of the entire camp.

Percy held up his hands to stop him. "No, no, Tyson! I believe you!"

Tyson stopped and closed his mouth, grinning. "It was like Grover's Panic."

"I'm sure it was."

Tyson's eye filled with concern. "You are better now?"

"Yes, Big Guy. Thanks for the help."

"I waited here for you for days, not at the hospital, but I wanted to. Sally said the doctors would think I was scary."

"Well…." Percy wasn't sure what to say. "Anyway - thanks."

"You are not sick?"

"I don't think I can make any promises."

"Are you hungry?" His whole face suddenly lit up. "I will get you peanut butter -!"

"No, Tyson, that's okay. I'm fine. Don't talk to me about food right now…."

"Oh, okay," he said, brightly.

Percy rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He could see campers peering through their cabin windows, and satyrs and nymphs at the edge of the woods, all watching him. He wasn't sure if word had spread about the baby already (although he doubted Annabeth would so willingly go and blab to the whole camp at this point), if this was general concern for his health (which, from the Ares cabin, was not exactly a possibility), or if they were all remembering the times during the past week that he had rushed around in his sweaty pajamas and with his knotty hair, either shoveling food in his face or throwing it all up in the strawberry fields.

"Why don't we talk inside our cabin, Big Guy," he suggested, giving Mrs. O'Leary one final affectionate pat on the head.

Tyson insisted on carrying him to the cabin and Percy was in no state to refuse.

In their cabin, Percy told Tyson to sit, that he had some big news he'd like to share with him. Tyson plopped down on the cold stone floor, making the ground shake and the now vomit-free water in the fountain slosh threateningly. Percy perched on the edge of his bed, facing Tyson, the sheets also now fresh and clean, no longer riddled with sweat, and Percy felt another wave of gratitude towards his underestimated half-brother.

He felt like he should've felt nervous to be sharing such big news with someone, but he felt oddly exhilarated. This was the first person that he'd gotten to tell, and who better than his beloved baby brother?

"Tyson, I…." How was he supposed to explain this? Tyson had grown up in mean New York alleyways, abandoned by their father Poseidon and Tyson's mother, a nature spirit of some kind. Percy wasn't sure if Tyson even knew where babies came from or how they were made. Certainly the birth of a cyclops was exponentially different from a mortal birth - which Percy assumed was the kind he would be having. Annabeth herself was born from her mother's and father's brains meeting (although, Percy didn't really understand what that meant, exactly). He just knew that pregnancy and childbirth were a little fuzzy in the mythological world.

This was the first time since he'd found out about the baby that he had felt nervous about it. But he couldn't dwell on his emotions now, because Tyson was still staring at him, waiting patiently, his one eye wide with anticipation.

"Tyson… you are going to be an uncle." When the cyclops didn't respond, Percy asked, hesitantly, "Do you know what that means?"

His brother scrunched up his face in thought. After a few moments, he suddenly gasped. "There is going to be a baby?"

Percy smiled. "Yes. Annabeth and I… well…. _I_ am going to have a baby."

Tyson started clapping and squealing, new tears streaking down his cheeks.

"Yay! Babies!"

"Just the one, Tyson." The massive young cyclops leapt up to give Percy another hug. "Tyson, you have to be extremely gentle with me, okay? You have to be careful of the baby."

Tyson restrained himself from crushing Percy, but it seemed he could not remain still. The young cyclops pulled open the door and flew outside, laughing and crying. Percy knew he couldn't count on Tyson not to tell the whole camp, so he also ventured outside with plans to visit the Big House to have a chat with the camp's Activities Director Chiron.

He just secretly hoped Mr. D wasn't there, too. Dionysis didn't seem like the "congratulations on your new baby" kind of guy.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Well, this is an unexpected course of events…."

"Yeah. That about sums it up." Percy had just finished telling Chiron. Chiron appeared to be just an ordinary middle-aged man in a tweed jacket confined to a wheelchair, but outside of his magical wheels he was a magnificent centaur, and an innumerably ancient one at that.

He had taken the news of Percy's condition fairly well, although Percy could detect a pinch of disappointment on the old centaur's face. Percy knew he was one of his favorite students. And Chiron had always felt somewhat like a father to Percy, and Chiron's disappointment in him was almost enough to make Percy reconsider his stance on keeping the baby.

"And it is appropriate for me to assume Ms. Chase is the mother?"

"Uh, yeah, she is."

Chiron nodded. "And she is aware?"

" _Very_."

Chiron nodded again. "Well, I suppose my next question would pertain to what course of action you plan to take with this?"

"I want to have it."

"Does Annabeth agree?"

Percy looked at the floor grudgingly. "Not really…."

The centaur smiled. "She'll come around. She loves you very much. I find it is far too easy at times to forget that relationships are the most valuable treasure we have." At this, Percy perked up again, because it had reminded him of something he'd been trying to forget.

Chiron then said, "You are fortunate that Mr. D was not present to hear this. I'm afraid he's busy."

"With what? Getting drunk off his ass?"

Chiron gave him a little look. "No. You know that's strictly forbidden of him. He is currently abroad with his wife - Zeus gave him one week's vacation. It seems the Lord of the Sky has been showing his more generous side lately. Hopefully this means he won't be too quick to smite you."

" 'Smite' me? What did I do now?"

"A child of the Big Three having a child? Doesn't that sound like it could turn the tides a bit?" Chiron stiffened. "No pun intended."

"That was a pun?"

Chiron smiled again, but this quickly returned to determined seriousness. "Can you promise me, Percy, in all honesty, that you won't go and do anything spontaneous and irrational while, uh… with child?"

"What? Like maybe resurrecting Kronos and getting all buddy-buddy, maybe letting him pick out baby names and booties? That sort of… whatever you said I shouldn't do?"

"Percy, demigod pregnancy is a very serious matter. You need to take special care of yourself and your child."

"I know that!"

"But you don't know to what extent that I mean it."

Percy furrowed his brow, confused. "Okay. What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that…." He sighed, thinking. "Children of the Big Three have powerful scents to monsters, correct? Stronger scents than the offspring of the other gods?"

"Yes…?" Percy said slowly, unsure where this was going.

"Well - think about it. You are now technically _two_ demigods in one. Your scent is now even _more_ powerful than it is under normal circumstances."

"Oh…."

"Due to this, I'm afraid that I must strongly insist you stay at Camp this coming school year. I'm terribly sorry - I know you were probably looking forward to continuing high school -."

Percy burst out laughing. "Are you kidding?! I get to skip a whole year of math and science and being a freak? Thank the gods!"

" _Percy_!" a voice that was not Chiron's scolded.

It was Annabeth.

 **Ha ha ha ha ha CLIFFHANGERS ARE MY LIFE**


	6. Chapter 6

Annabeth tore off her invisibility cap, standing just feet away from where Percy was sitting. She was glaring at him, her eyes like miniature tornadoes.

"I had hoped that after dating me you would have learned to value your education a bit more," she said.

Percy retorted, sassily, "And I would have hoped after dating _me_ you would have learned at least a little bit about me. You would know by now how much I hate knowing stuff."

"Nice work with Tyson, by the way. I bet half the camp has heard the news by now."

"Great," Percy said sarcastically. "And could you not spy on me when I'm having a private conversation with someone? I know where you live and, so help me Zeus, I will sneak in and take that stupid hat of yours."

She smiled, unscathed. Percy, on the other hand, was not so quick to forgive.

Chiron looked awkwardly between the two of them, back and forth, like he was observing an intense tennis match. "Am I sensing some tension here?"

"Little bit," Percy mumbled.

"Then, I will allow you two some privacy," he said, wheeling himself across the room. He stopped abruptly before reaching the door and spun around to give each of them a look. "But no… _romantic escapades_ while I'm out."

"We won't, Chiron. I promise," Annabeth assured him. With that, he wheeled backwards from the room.

Annabeth walked over to the door and closed it behind him. She looked back at Percy, who had turned away from her, arms crossed, his expression stony, determined.

"Percy…" she said gently. "I just want to talk."

"We did a lot of that back in the hospital. I doubt you've changed much since then."

She sighed, sitting down on the sofa next to him. "Well," she said, "can you at least answer one question I have?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. Depends."

"You said in the hospital… something about a dream? Involving the baby?" She paused. "Who did you dream about? Who told you those things?"

"I don't think I should say."

"Percy, at this point I don't think it matters. I just wanted to know if it was… a trustworthy source."

As soon as he stopped to question the trustworthiness of the messenger, he was hit with the memory of a solid kiss in a smoke-filled room. He had been trying so hard not to think about it. That one moment had been so perfect, so wonderful. He had always felt a deep connection with Bianca, a feeling that couldn't be explained with something as simple as words. But that was the first time that he had ever considered it might be…. No. It couldn't be… _love_. Could it?

It couldn't be. Not really. Because every time he thought about it, he found himself wishing that it had been Annabeth kissing him in his dreams instead. And, again, he wished he could just pull her on top of him on this couch and lose himself in her, just forget all about babies and gods and mortal danger. And second chances. But they promised Chiron they wouldn't. And, besides, you never knew when Mr. D might suddenly decide to pop in for a gloat.

He also remembered that he was supposed to be mad at her. He crossed his arms even tighter, jabbing his own ribs with his elbows.

In spite of himself, he snuck a quick glance at her. She was watching him, her dark eyes like gentle rain clouds today, like sunlight shimmering through dense fog. Her hair was roughly pulled back in a ponytail and it looked as though she hadn't brushed it in days. Clumps of it framed her subtly tanned cheeks.

"It was Bianca di Angelo," he admitted. "Her ghost."

Annabeth nodded. "What did she say? About the baby?"

He told her all he could recall. He was particularly careful to emphasize the part where Bianca had talked about the "second chance" in the hope that Annabeth might be able to provide the answer he couldn't. She was miles smarter than he was. _Light years_ smarter. He didn't even really know what light years were, but she certainly did.

He could never tell her that, though. It would go straight to her big-brained head.

But she was just as clueless as he was in the matter.

"A second chance," she repeated, once he'd finished telling her. "What do you think she could mean by that?"

"I don't know. I was honestly hoping you would."

"I'm really not as smart as you think I am, Percy."

"Really? Then what've I been calling you 'Wise Girl' for?"

"I make a lot of mistakes…." She looked down at the floor. Percy turned to face her again, forgetting his stubbornness.

"Like what? Name one."

Her eyes sparkled with unborn tears. "Like…." She sighed heavily. "Like implying you should get rid of our baby…. You know, after I left the hospital and came back to Camp, I couldn't stop thinking about it. This baby is all I've had on my mind for the past few days. And… I thought about what you said. About building something together?" She gently touched his still boney cheek and he didn't shy away. "This is something we built together. It takes both of us to keep this standing strong. It needs the proper support."

She started to laugh. "Listen to me and my ridiculous architectural metaphors. Gods, I'm such a nerd."

"No," he said, grinning. "You're not just a nerd. You're a wise girl, Wise Girl."

"And you've got a seaweed brain, Seaweed Brain."

He couldn't stay mad at her. Leaning in slowly, he closed his eyes and kissed her. It was so perfect, feeling her heat again, her lips tickling his and making his palms sweat. She slipped her tongue into his mouth and he returned the favor with an enthusiasm he hadn't felt in a long while.

They were suddenly interrupted by the sound of the door flying open and a flash of red.

Percy and Annabeth pulled away from each other and, without having to see who had just entered the room, Percy grumbled, "Hello, Rachel."

"Knew you'd be here," she said, grinning. "You're actually a bit early, Percy. I guess the taxi ride wasn't that long after all." They were all well accustomed to Rachel acting like this - being The Oracle means you know _a lot_. About _everyone_.

And she _loved_ to show off.

"How're you doing, Daddy," she asked, poking him in the stomach.

"Well enough without you jabbing my baby."

She laughed and flopped into a nearby chair. "You have no idea how hard it was to keep this a secret. I've known about this since before you guys started sleeping together - and, yes, I knew when that was going to happen, too."

"Is there anything you _don't_ know about our personal lives, Rachel," Annabeth asked.

Without even thinking, Rachel replied, "Nope." She started to pick dried paint out from under her fingernails. "In every future I've seen, Percy always keeps the baby. That was guaranteed. But you supporting him? Well… I'm just glad you guys did work it out, in the end. You guys wouldn't be happy apart. Also, the baby needs you, Annabeth."

Annabeth leaned forward, excitedly. "You've seen our baby's future?"

"Yeah. Of course. Dream about it almost every night. It's kind of obnoxious - it's filling up all this mental space that could be better used for, oh, I don't know… a certain Great Prophecy that might be mapping out our very lives as we speak?"

"Don't be sarcastic. It was a completely legitimate and appropriate question."

"Funny," Rachel said, not tuning down the sass even a little bit. "How many prophecies have _you_ made, Little Ms. Einstein? Hm?" She raised her eyebrows, tauntingly.

"Anyway," Percy said, trying to move the conversation forward. "What were you saying about our baby?"

"Oh, yeah - it's really important that you're having this baby. This baby in particular is going to make a lot of people really happy. Not just the two of you. This baby has a destiny. Some very close friends of yours depend on you having a bubbly, healthy, bouncing ball of joy, so make sure you eat well, Percy, and get lots of rest."

Annabeth looked concerned. "Is our child a part of the Great Prophecy?"

Rachel shrugged. "Even if I knew for certain - which I don't, 'cause the future's always changing, it gets _really_ hard to keep track sometimes - I couldn't actually tell you, could I? Giving away the future could end up changing it and making it much worse. Can't risk it, Annabeth."

"Alright," Percy offered, "what about the gender of our baby? Do you know that?"

Rachel smirked mischievously. "Of course. That was set in stone when your baby was conceived." Annabeth made a noise at this, but Percy knew Rachel meant nothing by it.

"Well, what is it?"

But she just shook her head, her red hair flapping from side to side. "Can't tell you."

"But how can knowing that affect our future?" Annabeth asked. "You already said that it's not subject to change."

"Yeah, but this time I'm keeping it to myself for the pure fun of it."

Annabeth glared at her, her eyes storming violently, although a smile played lightly on her lips. "If you weren't The Oracle, Dare, I would kill you right here and right now."

"Nah," Rachel said, still grinning and swinging her legs. "You would've done that a long time ago, Chase."

Percy just nodded in agreement. Truth be told, Annabeth was way scarier than any monster he'd ever faced. _Ever_.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Rachel, having successfully made Annabeth so irritated that her ears had started to turn red, skipped her way back to her cave on the edge of Camp. Annabeth, once she'd cooled off, had archery to attend with Chiron, so the two of them made their way to the shooting range and Percy was left alone to make his own way back to his cabin.

He hardly needed to look where he was going, his feet had mapped this ground over so many times.

As he was giggling silently to himself watching Tyson run along the beach (he was still in a state of utter excitement, kicking the water and dragging a piece of driftwood through the sand), Percy suddenly found his path blocked.

He stopped short - it was Grover and he looked pissed off his goatly ass. He looked almost evil, devilish even, with his horns and goatee, and his pupils shrinking to little slits.

"Oh, Grover," Percy said, relieved. "It's just you."

"Really? 'Just' me? What am I - a mule?"

"What're you talking about, G-man?"

"I thought we were better friends than this. I thought being your best friend meant I would get to hear your news firsthand, not from Clarisse's big mouth. And _she_ heard it from Tyson."

Percy sighed, guilt collecting in his chest. "Look, man - I told Tyson because he's my brother. I didn't know he was going to tell the whole camp!"

"But you can see why this would bother me, right? _Clarisse_ got to know before _I_ did. _Clarisse_ , royal reigning empress of Kingdom Ares."

Percy rubbed his eyes. He wasn't physically or emotionally prepared for a fight with Grover after the past two weeks he'd had. He still wasn't feeling so well and all of these interrogations weren't improving his condition.

"Grover, what do you want me to do?"

The satyr thought for a long moment, his short tail twitching.

After a minute, he smiled. "Name the baby after me."

"What if it's a girl?"

"I don't know…. 'Groverella' sounds pretty."

Percy chuckled weakly. "I'll talk to Annabeth."

"Oh, you know her - she'll want to name it 'Archibald' or 'Cornelius' or something. Something smart."

"No, she'll name it after a building."

Grover laughed (more like bleated), his shoulders going slack and his pupils rounding out again. "Yeah - 'St. Louis Arch'. We'll all call him 'Louie' for short."

" 'Scuse you! We're going to call him 'Archie'."

"What about a girl?"

"Hancock."

Grover nodded. "Sounds about right." They continued walking toward Percy's cabin, side by side. After a while, Grover said, awkwardly, "You know… those nights I heard you yelling in your sleep and I went and got Annabeth for you? I thought she'd just pat you on the back or something. Not that you guys would… you know…."

"The first couple times it was like that. Just a hug, not much more. But, I don't know. Something changed. I can't explain it. I don't think she could really explain it, either."

"I guess it's just human weakness."

"Hey - you're _half_ human!"

And, though Grover huffed at this, Percy was glad that he had such a great friend by his side, to fight through this new battle with. It made everything seem smaller.

 **XXX**

 **Thanks again for all the support! You guys make writing a worthwhile venture.**


	7. Chapter 7 - September

**For the purposes of this story, Annabeth and her family live in New York.**

 **XXX**

The next couple weeks passed by pretty uneventfully. September came too quickly, and since Percy wasn't allowed to return to school he had had to watch from the top of Halfblood Hill as the camp's inconspicuous strawberry van pulled away with Annabeth waving solemnly through the back window. If he was being positive, he would say that since he was one of the few campers staying behind there were now fewer judging eyes watching him from every cabin door and from around every corner. But, without Annabeth, he wasn't feeling particularly optimistic. She had promised to return every weekend, and she did make good on that promise, but the middle of the week was agony.

Mr. D had finally made his reappearance and every time he saw Percy, no matter from how far away, Percy could hear him start to laugh. This wordless, incessant mocking was somehow painfully more irritating than anything the god could have said or done to Percy.

Mealtimes were the worst. Percy's table was a just few feet away from the head table, and Dionysus wouldn't be able to eat a single bite he would be laughing so hard. Percy would endure this ridicule for as long as he could, but it wouldn't be too long before he'd get up and storm away from the dining pavilion, the echoes of the wine god's stupid chortles following him like flies until he would get safely back inside his cabin.

Without Annabeth and Tyson to keep him company (Tyson had had to return to his work after just a few days at Camp), and Grover spending so much of his time with his girlfriend Juniper, Percy found that during the week he mostly preferred to be alone.

So, in the hopes of finding refuge in the wonderful privacy that was the Poseidon cabin nowadays, Percy opened the door to his low stone house after dinner one night, only to find, much to his disappointment, that he wasn't actually alone this time.

Inside, studying the old Minotaur horn that had been hanging from his wall since he had defeated the monster five years earlier, was a tall, gently muscled woman with long dark hair in a braid down her pale back, wearing an elegant white blouse and pants with simple brown loafers. A silver chain glittered from around her neck, matching the small hoops dangling from her ears. But what stood out the most to Percy were her piercing grey eyes, deep and dangerous.

It was Annabeth's mother; the goddess Athena.

Percy stared at her, surprised and a little terrified to find her there. There was no way she could be visiting him to discuss potential nursery colors over tea and cookies. Why were the gods always invading his personal space? Didn't they have enough on their hands trying to run the world without worrying about his puny mortal life?

She smirked at him. "Close your mouth, Perseus. Please."

He hadn't realized he'd been gaping at her. He shut his mouth quickly. If he was trying to impress the goddess of wisdom, he wasn't off to a very good start.

Her smirk grew deeper, as if she were having the same thought. "No need to look so terrified. I'm merely here to discuss my daughter's… progeny." Her stormy eyes flickered briefly to his stomach. He tried not to feel self-conscious, but it was difficult under her harsh gaze.

"You have recently surpassed your first trimester, I believe?"

He nodded, politely, hoping to maybe recover his image. "Yes, my lady."

A smile twitched across her mouth. "I appreciate the formality, but I do not require it. We are technically family, now, are we not?"

"Were we not before? I thought we were cousins?"

"Not really. Not by blood. Gods have no blood, do they?" Something flashed through her eyes and her smile deepened. "I am sure you find that disappointing. You were probably hoping to use our familial relations to your advantage. To earn my sympathies, perhaps? But, I am certain you will much prefer these circumstances for the sake of your feelings for my daughter. Since the two of you are not related, your romances are not incestuous."

"Oh… uh… so that's good, then," he replied stupidly.

The goddess cleared her throat impatiently. "I recall that I once asked you to stay away from my daughter. Due to your inability to adhere to my request, I have become resigned to the possibility that you may have inherited my uncle's natural disregard for any form of authority."

"My father _is_ a form of authority," Percy said snarkily. "He doesn't bow to anyone."

"Everyone must bow to reason." That stopped him short. "My purpose for visiting your cabin tonight is to discuss the future of your unborn child. I am aware that The Oracle has prophesied a destiny for this child, as obscure and unclear as she is desiring to keep it. But I could not ignore the possibility that this child may be one of the seven demigods mentioned in the new Great Prophecy. A danger is on the horizon. It may be my dear grandfather again - although I highly doubt he would have regained enough strength to rise again so soon after his defeat - but it may be something else just as fearsome, if not more."

"Wait - how can anything be worse than Kronos himself?"

"You would be surprised, Perseus Jackson. To ensure that your child is adequately prepared for whatever tasks may lie ahead for him or her, I must insist that he or she is raised solely by Annabeth."

" _What_?!" He disregarded any desire he'd had for a good impression and formalities in the flood of anger he now felt towards Athena.

"My daughter will make an excellent mother," she said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, yeah - like _hers_?!"

"Do not misunderstand me - this is not meant to punish you. This is purely for the best interests of everyone, especially those of the child."

"No!" he said simply.

The goddess raised an eyebrow. "No?"

"Annabeth would never agree to this! You know that. We're supposed to raise the baby _together_."

"Is nine months alone with the child insufficient?"

"No! I mean… _yes_. Yes, it's insufficient!"

She huffed, frustrated. "I am not usually comfortable admitting this, but I am afraid I don't understand. Your reasoning seems flawed. You are not considering the larger picture -."

"Fuck the larger picture," he yelled, and she seemed slightly taken aback. She watched him very closely while he said, "You can't look at everything logically. Some things just aren't logical. Love isn't logical. _Family_ sure as Hades isn't logical. Annabeth and I love each other, whether you can understand that or not. And this baby is our family and we _both_ love it. You stand there and talk about best interests, but isn't it in the baby's best interests to have _two_ loving parents?"

Athena said nothing. She just stood there, watching him. For a second, he thought he could see a spark of lightning swirl in the storm of her eyes.

He said, "I don't know what I did to make you hate me, but don't take it out on my kid."

The goddess took a deep breath. "I do not hate you, Perseus. That would be irrational, after all that you have done for the gods. But, I will admit, I do have a pressing aversion to you. I find it a wonder that my daughter fell for you as hard as she did, but, based on her actions and reasoning in the past, I must trust her judgement."

She stepped forward and Percy flinched slightly, fearing the goddess' wrath. But, when he looked at her face, something about her gentle expression suddenly reminded him strongly of Annabeth.

"My future and the future of my family may depend on you and your decision in this matter. It is your choice what course you take with your child. But, please… handle your child with as much love and care as you can muster, as much as you have shown toward my daughter. It is imperative to give your children all the affection they deserve. You have taught the gods this lesson and this is your chance to follow your own teachings. Show us that our way of raising our children was misguided. Show us that mortals may possess a deeper wisdom than the gods themselves.

"Show us we were wrong, Perseus."

And, with that final challenge, she closed her eyes and began to glow. Percy averted his eyes, believing she was revealing her true divine form (seeing this would have reduced him to nothing but dust), but instead she just gently faded away, leaving behind nothing but the weird feeling lurking in Percy's chest that was somewhere between residual anger and blooming doubt.

With new thoughts flurrying in his head like moths, he made his way over to the fountain. He gazed at his own reflection dancing on the water's surface. Was it really better for this baby to grow up without him in its life? He was only a seventeen-year-old boy, when it came down to it, and a pretty stupid one at that. He was slow, impulsive, and irritable, and that wasn't just the hormones talking.

Maybe this baby did deserve just Annabeth. She was definitely more than capable.

Something about his reflection made him pause. He leaned in, squinting, trying to get a closer look, but the bubbling, frothing water and shadows made it impossible to see with clarity.

He held out his hand, palm side to the fountain, feeling pressure swirl in the bottom of his stomach and a subtle heat kiss his fingertips as he willed the water to float out of the basin. It came up in a large sheet, like a floating pane of glass, and hovered in the air in front of him. Having created his makeshift mirror, he could now see himself almost perfectly. His lungs chilled as his suspicion was confirmed.

Turning his body sideways, he stared down at the reflection of his abdomen. He smoothed back his orange t-shirt against his stomach. He could see there, almost insignificantly, the beginning of a small roundness, a swelling hardly there but the longer he stared at it the more noticeable it became.

Sucking in his stomach made it vanish, making him almost believe it was just his recent weight gain (he had regained the weight he had lost when he was sick, and gained a bit more).

But when he placed his hand against it, he knew it wasn't weight.

He clasped his other hand over his mouth and his makeshift mirror crashed to the floor, splashing everywhere. Tears stung his eyes, but they didn't pour out.

Before this moment, everything had seemed so far away, so magical, unreal. Everyone talked about a baby - baby this, baby that - but that's all it was. Just talk. But now that he could _see_ his baby, feel it through his skin, it suddenly hit him harder than Mrs. O'Leary's kisses or even one of Tyson's bear hugs. It was suddenly all so real.

This was his _baby_. This was his baby as much as it was Annabeth's, no matter what Athena thought. He had to protect this little bump with everything he had, with all the powers of the world. He would carry the sky on his back to protect it; he would take on any monster, any god to preserve it.

It was more than reasonable. And everyone must bow to reason.

 **XXX**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter! This is the point where I started jumping forward by month in the story, so it should move much quicker from now on. See you next time! Same bat-time, same bat-channel.**


	8. Chapter 8 - October

**Kind of a short chapter this time, but it adds some new layers to the story. Enjoy!**

 **XXX**

The first three months of Percy's pregnancy had brought no physical change, but ever since he'd first noticed the tiniest of bumps arising it had done nothing but expand. He swore he woke up noticeably larger every morning.

Annabeth seemed to think it was cute. She was always placing her hands against his belly, trying to feel for movement, but he hadn't really felt anything from the baby yet.

He couldn't remember ever feeling better. He had this unexplained sense of peace about the whole thing. He didn't even really care anymore about Dionysus' incessant ridicule every time they were in any kind of proximity to each other.

Grover had been acting oddly, though - quiet and distant - and, after little effort on Percy's part, he revealed that Tyson had come into Camp one night without Percy's knowledge. Grover had found him sneaking around, sifting through the metal scraps that were usually littered around the Hephaestus Cabin's workshop, and by morning there was no sign that Tyson had ever been by.

Percy tried iris-messaging Tyson at his station in Poseidon's underwater palace, but he instead got connected to Tyson's superiors who - through a series of barely comprehensible grunts and growls - had conveyed to Percy that Tyson did not wish to be disturbed, even by his increasingly pregnant brother.

He had had little time to worry over this, though, because, around the same time, Percy had been experiencing some very discomforting Braxton Hicks contractions. Annabeth assured him they were a normal part of pregnancy, that most men experienced them, that it was just due to the baby's rapid growth over the past month, but they still caused him concern. The only treatment she and Chiron could recommend was rest and relaxation, which was difficult enough with all the schoolwork she insisted he do during her visits (to keep up with his education) and his general restlessness (from the ADHD), and he didn't need to deal with Tyson's sudden unexplained distance on top of all this.

One weekend in late October, Rachel invited Percy and Annabeth down to her cave.

Apollo's sunny decorating tips when she had first become The Oracle and had made her temporary home at Camp had all gone discarded - all Rachel cared about were the essentials: a bed, a bathroom, lighting, and, most importantly, a locking door. Rachel, being the artist that she was, had also requested endless sketchbooks and canvases, and a huge desk complete with buckets of pencils, brushes, and other creative supplies. She often liked to draw her prophetic dreams and this cave was her own private space to do just that and to be the best damn Oracle that she could be.

When they arrived as requested, she sat them down together on the bed and threw a stack of papers right onto Percy's slowly shrinking lap. It was a collection of pieces depicting Annabeth and Percy cuddling a small bundle, no larger than a loaf of bread, with a small wrinkled face and bald pink head, like a little peach with eyes.

Paper after paper, drawing after drawing, left the two of them smiling and dreaming of the time when the visions could come to fruition, but two pieces near the bottom of the stack smacked them out of their happy daze and caused Rachel to cringe and tear the papers away. She refused to tell them what the two images had meant, saying they were not meant to see them, that the information in the pictures was not hers to divulge. Thus, they left her hovel with no answers, but countless more questions, which seemed to be growing almost as quickly as Percy's newly bulging belly.

He had trouble sleeping that night. Even with Annabeth's usually lulling rhythmic snores emitting softly from the bunk next to him, he still struggled fruitlessly. Visions of the two mystery images he had seen at Rachel's pervaded his mind, swimming behind his eyelids.

He tried to hold on to the happier images, the drawings of big bright eyes sparkling through long lashes, ten chubby toes in a precious little line, lips pressed against a soft pink nose. But every attempt at forgetting the dark images just made them appear sharper and with more ferocity: the giant fingers twisting, curled around the thick metal bars of what he was left to assume to belong to a cage or a cell; and the dark, pit-like shadows with nothing but the two glowing eyes dissipating the pure black.

They had been part of the stack of drawings Rachel had made depicting their child's future. Was this what lied ahead for their little peach, for the thing that had been living inside of him but had now started to grow out of him? He or she was destined to bring peace to some of the people closest to them. Rachel had said so. But she couldn't explain the cage or the thing lurking in the shadowy hollow. She wouldn't.

Could the price of the happiness and safety of their friends be their child's unhappiness?

His only comfort against the heavy darkness weighing on his mind and heart was the small twitches and thumps he had started to feel inside; his baby, finally moving, as if it were trying to tell him that everything would be okay.

And, listening to the foreign rhythms inside of him, he was finally able to fall asleep.

 **XXX**

 **Let me know what you think, but I just thought I'd reiterate that I did write this a while ago. I try to edit a little as I post it, but I prefer to maintain as much of the original file as I can because it helps me to become a better writer. (I'm just warning you because I feel like the next few chapters are gonna be crap)**

 **Thank you to all my followers!**


	9. Chapter 9 - November

**Wooooooooo we're past halfway through the story! Enjoy! Let me know what you think.**

 **XXX**

Halloween came and went. Percy had never been at Camp over Halloween, but, if he was being honest, it wasn't actually as exciting as the celebration that occurred on the other side of the hill.

The significance of Halloween in the mortal world was the opportunity to experience beasts and beings that were not real for one terror-filled afternoon, to watch them run amok down the street, spurred by the fake spiders and giant webs and screaming tombstones.

Halloween at Camp Halfblood was far less exhilarating, as everyone actually _was_ a beast or other magical being that did not exist in the "real" world. Ever since he'd learned of this secret mythological world, it had really taken the wonder out of holidays like this.

The only real surprises he got were visits from two friends he hadn't seen in for a long time: Thalia, the sole daughter of Zeus, who had taken the night off of hunting with the moon goddess Artemis to come and visit (and pester) Percy; and Nico, Bianca's living brother, though he was still as skinny as the skeletons he manifested straight out of the ground just for the occasion. He also called on some spirits to come and join the feeble party and (though he searched thoroughly for her) Percy did not see Bianca there among them.

Nico was so exhausted from summoning that he slept for several days afterwards. One morning, the Camp awoke to find his bed empty and his things gone. Despite the new Hades Cabin that Tyson and his fellow cyclopes had built the year before (which was so tastefully creepy, if such a thing was possible, that Percy was insanely jealous of the young son of Hades), Nico still preferred to roam nomadically, shadow-traveling to obscure corners of the world to meet strange people and forgotten monsters of old. Percy wished he wouldn't - the boy was only thirteen and had spent most of his time on his own since Bianca had died three years prior. But trying to convince him to stay was pointless. Camp just didn't feel like home to him yet, and Percy knew that "home" was something that just couldn't be forced on a person.

The next few weeks were dreadfully boring, with the exception of Annabeth's visits, but even they had lost their novelty. Percy was only about five months into his pregnancy and he was already wishing he could just have the baby out of him. He was sick of waiting for a future that everyone warned him about but wouldn't seem to come. And ever since Percy had first felt the tiniest of movements inside of him the baby had hardly stopped moving. It particularly liked to target him right in the bladder, so he spent most of his days in the bathroom waiting for something that wasn't really coming.

But one afternoon in mid-November, Grover brought him something new and exciting: a mystery person had requested to meet Percy on the upper floor of the Big House. Percy was so grateful for something to do that he practically ran up there - though this was much harder to do these days with his protruding belly.

Stairs were a bitch especially.

But when he finally got to the second floor of the Big House (having to dodge through Mr. D's chortles on the story below), he found nothing waiting there for him but an empty hallway and a cluster of closed doors.

Grover couldn't have meant the attic, could he?

Percy looked warily up at the trapdoor above his head. He didn't cherish the memories of his ventures through it. The attic was where the Oracle before Rachel had once resided - the shriveled old mummy of a hippie lady, the memory of which still managed to bring Percy chills. But there was no mummy up there now. There was nothing up there but the odd trinkets and prizes won by demigods in various battles and confrontations.

Once they had transferred the Oracle's spirit from the mummy to Rachel, it was nothing more than a shriveled, tye-dyed husk, and the Camp had collectively decided to give her a proper burial, to finally bring her the peace she'd deserved.

Percy was still tempted to peek up there, though, just to make certain his mysterious visitor might not be waiting for him there, but just as he reached up for the string a door to his right suddenly sprung open.

He jumped back and found himself face-to-face with his father.

Poseidon looked just as he always did: a bright and flowery hawaiian shirt paired with khaki shorts and sandals. There was no cap on his head today, so his dark hair flowed freely in waves, and he wasn't carrying his trident though Percy knew it couldn't have gotten far from the sea god.

His green eyes crinkled in a wide smile when he saw his only demigod son standing there.

"Didn't mean to frighten you, Percy," he said brightly.

"S'okay, Dad," Percy said. It may have been considered informal to address a god this way, especially one this powerful, but he and Poseidon had had a strong relationship, despite his father being absent from almost thirteen years of his life.

But Percy wasn't too concerned with formalities at the moment anyway; he had just realized that he had never explored much of this part of the house before. He actually had no idea what room Poseidon had just stepped out of. But when he tried to peek in, Poseidon noticed his efforts and shut the door casually - but rather forcefully - behind him.

Percy looked at his father questioningly. "What were you doing in there?"

Poseidon grinned even brighter, winking. "Oh, you know me. I thought it would've been a hoot to surprise you. You may not know this about me but I actually have quite a knack for finding good hiding places. I'm sure you and I could strike up a good game of hide-and-seek with my grandchild someday."

He nodded at Percy's growing stomach. "Yeah," Percy said, not pressing him any further about the room. He was just happy that his father had come to see him; the god's visits were infrequent and usually brief, so Percy had learned to enjoy each and every moment he got with his fairweather father.

Poseidon leaned casually against the wall, observing one of the flaking paintings of grapevines Dionysus had no doubt thought were good interior design, but the slightly wrinkled nose and furrowed brow of the sea god suggested that he felt otherwise. "I must be honest, Percy," he said. "My brothers are not anticipating welcoming your offspring to the world. But I am _ecstatic_."

Percy beamed. "You are?"

"Of course. I always knew you'd make yourself a father someday, Percy. You have a powerful gentleness about you, like the sea." He smiled again, his green eyes sparkling.

Percy had never thought before that he would be talking to his father about fatherhood. In fact, he had never before considered even becoming a father. It was just something he assumed he would never want to do. Why bring a baby into a world filled with monsters? Why spark a flame in the eye of a storm?

Any time he had ever considered the possibility of starting a family with Annabeth, his mind had been flooded with the darkest scenes from his childhood. And they were plentiful. He couldn't stand to condemn another person to carrying the burden he had to for all those years. He couldn't bring a child into existence just to end up denying them a childhood.

But, that day in the hospital, something had changed his mind.

He now understood better than before why Poseidon had chosen to stay out of his life. It must have been agony for him, all those years away from a child he had carried inside his own body, however briefly; a child that he had loved long before he had gotten to hold it in his arms; a child that he knew would be condemned to a terrible fate due merely to the fact that the juices pumping through its body came from his own. Leaving it behind was the only way to protect it, that child inside; his baby, his bump, his twitches and taps.

After this heavily pregnant silence, Poseidon put a hand on Percy's shoulder, his green eyes deepening. "Percy," he said in a serious tone usually foreign to him. "I just wanted you to know that I'm proud of you." Percy smiled, unable to speak.

"You are strong," he continued. "And that is one of the few treasures we have in this world. People tend to forget that. You have shown strength over the past few months, and you will need to keep this strength up in the near future, nearer than you'd probably like to admit."

Poseidon gazed into Percy's eyes, driving into them. Percy gazed back, waiting.

His father emitted another burdened sigh and Percy was faintly reminded of the time he had seen his father as a grey-haired old man, though Poseidon hadn't changed physically this time. He was normally so bubbly, it was too easy to forget just how ancient he really was.

"Percy… please…. Promise me you'll be a stronger father than I was."

Percy nodded, agreeing, though he knew deep inside that he had never met a father stronger than the one in front of him.

 **XXX**

 **I'm also posting the next chapter today, too, so be sure to check that out. Thanks for reading! Rock on!**


	10. Chapter 10 - December

**Let me know what you guys think! Thanks for the amazing support! Rock on!**

 **XXX**

"Show me, Percy."

"No, Mom."

"Come on. I didn't get to see this with your father. Just show me."

" _No_ , Mom."

" _Please_? Just two seconds. That's all I ask."

"Gods…."

He hadn't spoken to her since he'd left home after the fiasco at the hospital.

She had explained to him that she'd had a lot of time to think since then, and Chiron's letter explaining Percy's decision about the baby and his confinement to Camp Halfblood had helped put her mind at ease about the whole thing.

When Percy got her letter in late November asking him to Skype her through Annabeth's laptop, he was tempted to tear it up and maybe watch it shrivel in the fires of the Hephaestus forges. But he really did want to talk to his mom again, and her words had sounded sincere enough.

Usually, demigods are discouraged from using any communicative electronics, because the signal was like a flare to monsters and demigods normally didn't like drawing any extra attention to themselves. But he was perfectly safe inside the magical shielding borders of the Camp. And, besides, he was using Annabeth's laptop, which used to belong to the ingenious inventor Daedalus who had spent years making it incorruptible and safe for demigods to use freely.

The first thing Sally had done was apologize. But now she was to the point of requesting to see how big the baby was getting. Percy wasn't very keen on sharing this with anyone - he had been getting increasingly self-conscious about his figure lately - but he obliged. He stood up so she could see his torso through the computer's little webcamera and he turned sideways, showing off the increasing roundness of his profile.

She put a hand over her mouth to hide her smile, but he knew it was there.

Removing her hand again, she said, "How far along are you?"

He didn't have to think about it - he had practically been counting the days. "A little over six months," he said, sitting back down in the desk chair, gently.

She nodded. "Have you and Annabeth discussed names yet?"

"We have a few ideas."

"Like what?"

"Can't say. I promised Annabeth we'd keep it a surprise."

"Well, I'm full of ideas, if you need any."

"I don't know, Mom. Picking names from Greek mythology just seems a little on-the-nose, don't you think?" She beamed at him and he grinned back, sassily.

"Well, personally, I like the name 'Perseus'. You can't deny it's unique."

"No, you can't. But I think I'd prefer to keep my kid from getting beat up too bad in school, if that's okay with you."

She looked down almost solemnly, taking a long sip from a glass of wine he hadn't noticed was there. But when she looked back up at him, the brightness had returned to her eyes. "You're getting pretty big, Percy."

"I noticed."

Her finger slowly traced the lines on her wooden table. "I've been doing a lot of reading lately about…." She still had difficulty saying the word. He realized then that no matter how excited she was about her grandchild and how many times she apologized, no matter how sincerely, a part of her would always be disappointed with him. A part of her hated that he was having this baby. "About _pregnancy_ … and you're a little bigger than the pictures I've been seeing for where you should be at six months."

He had difficulty opening his mouth to speak, for some reason. "Well, I am a little _over_ six months. Maybe… a week over?"

"A week shouldn't make this much of a difference."

"You don't know that." He realized that he had spat the words at her, but if she had noticed his change in tone she didn't say anything. "Everyone's experience is different."

"I know," she sighed. "But…. You're absolutely certain it's not twins, right?"

"Yes, Mom. I'm positive."

They didn't talk for much longer after that and their conversation didn't brighten again. Percy yearned to have the close relationship he'd had with his mother from back before his pregnancy. It was too early to know for sure, but he had a feeling deep in his gut that he'd never get that closeness back.

 **XXX**

 **Honestly, I was a bit nervous about this chapter because I feel like Percy's mom is grossly out of character, so I just wanted to take a small moment to explain my motivation for this scene:**

 **The original idea for the story was that Percy gets pregnant and I wanted to explore how the people in his life would react to this. That's why there's been chapters with Poseidon and Athena, as well as a number of Percy's friends. But the other idea was that it would provide me with an opportunity to add things to the original five books that I felt were sorely missing from it (ex: what happened to the old Oracle, etc.). And one of those things was Percy's mom being a bitch.**

 **I know it sounds weird, but I always felt like she was TOO perfect, ALL THE TIME, and she just became SO sweet that she started to feel artificial. I wanted to give her a moment where she wasn't this too-perfect person, a moment where she could be human and a mortal and make stupid mistakes just like the rest of us. I wanted to give her her humanity.**

 **But, again, I hate long author's notes and this is now WAY too long and has WAY too many words in all-caps, so I'll shut up. I just wanted this scene to be a little food for thought.**


	11. Chapter 11

**I was only going to post the two chapters today, but this one was just so short, I thought,** ** _screw it_** **. Enjoy!**

 **XXX**

He was feeling pretty low after that for the next few weeks, hardly even noticing the movements of his baby anymore.

He didn't even cheer up when Annabeth came to visit the weekend before Christmas.

"I'm going to spend my whole Break here with you," she'd said. "Dad wants us all to go to Paris or something and it's not like I wouldn't enjoy seeing the Eiffel Tower but I think I'm more needed here with you."

But he didn't want her to stay because of him. Seeing the Eiffel Tower was one of her dreams and he hated the idea that him and his stupid body were the things keeping her from leeching everything she could from her life. He'd already screwed up his own life and he didn't want to inflict his own consequences on her as well.

She didn't understand why he kept insisting she go, and he knew he'd never be able to explain it to her. So he finally agreed that she should stay if that's what she really wanted.

He had so many worries bubbling and frothing in his mind, he thought his head might explode from the building pressure. Not only did he now have this rocky relationship with his mother, but he was also still worrying about Tyson avoiding him, his increasingly bloated figure, his craving for pineapple that could not seem to be quenched, his old steamy dream with Bianca with that wonderful but sickeningly unfaithful kiss, and, as the rotten cherry on top, he still couldn't stop thinking about those two pictures he and Annabeth had seen in Rachel's cave: the bottomless pit with the two eyes staring out of it and the cage-like bars between the curled, gnarled fingers of a giant hand.

His only refuge from his own head was his dreams. But he mostly dreamt about his past adventures with friends who were now gone. Their spirits had stopped talking to him, like Bianca had said they would, but the memories still haunted him. From those there was no escape.

He dreamed about walks through flowering gardens that smelled strongly of cough drops with the huntress Zoe Nightshade; flying his pegasus Black Jack alongside the riding instructor Silena Beauregard; preparing battle plans, and building weapons and traps with Charles Beckendorf.

They were all such happy memories. When sleeping, he could almost forget that they were all gone. They were alive inside of him. They were there; breathing, loving, laughing, living.

He would always awake to find his cheeks caked in lines of salt and Annabeth's arms wrapped around him, trying to protect him from something he couldn't be protected from.

This was the final battle of the war, this burning fight going on inside his head.

But this one would yield no winners. No war ever did.


	12. Chapter 12

The winter holidays came in sparkling and sweet, just as they always did.

Sally sent him a box of blue chocolate chip cookies - normally his favorite - but now when he chewed them they tasted like nothing.

Annabeth tried her best to lift his spirits, but he didn't come out of his haze until Christmas Eve.

It was late in the afternoon and Percy and Annabeth were still discussing possible names for the baby - they only had about two months left to decide and Percy was beginning to feel every tick of the clock resonate in his bones - when there was suddenly a knock at the cabin door.

Annabeth opened it to find Tyson standing outside in the dimming light, twiddling his thumbs shyly.

When she asked him what he wanted, he merely asked the two of them to follow him and then he skipped off, making loud crunching noises against the crisp white snow that had lightly frosted the ground. He was heading toward the Big House, which looked like a giant iced cake with red-and-green lights twinkling feebly from the gutters. Percy and Annabeth exchanged confused glances, but wordlessly resolved that Tyson was generally trustworthy and that it was probably okay to follow him.

He led them inside the Big House and up to the second floor (though Tyson had insisted on carrying Percy up the numerous stairs). Percy realized they had stopped outside the door where he had met Poseidon weeks prior, behind which was the mysterious room his father had tried to hide from him. He had considered coming up here to see what lied behind the thin membrane of faded white oak, but it was, by custom, frowned upon to go bursting into the Big House uninvited and he was in no condition (nor currently physically capable, really) of doing a lot of ninja-like sneaking and creeping. So the room had remained a mystery.

Excitement quivered in his blood. Even the baby paused its movements as if it, too, were feeling the building anticipation.

Tyson talked nervously of sneaking into Camp behind Percy's back for months to come and work on a project in this room, and asking their father to come and give his approval on the progress of the idea. He explained that it was a Christmas present for the baby and appreciation bubbled through the ocean of tingling excitement in Percy's chest.

The cyclops gave Percy the gentlest hug he could manage and then he grasped the door handle, which looked tiny in comparison to his giant fingers.

The door opened and the two parents-to-be both gasped.

They couldn't tell what the room had been before Tyson had gotten his hands on it, but the wonderful, beautiful young cyclops had taken the room and transformed it into a nursery, complete with painted waves rolling along the walls, toy fish and cute little owls along the shelves, a rocking chair curved to look like a seashell, and a circular crib lined with gold and blue blankets, resting on the soft purple carpet beneath an owl and seahorse mobile.

Percy stood there next to Annabeth in the center of the room, trying to take in everything at once, picturing himself in this room in the near future, rocking his baby to sleep in the rocking chair, tucking it into bed in the silver crib….

He wrapped his arms around his baby brother, burying himself the cyclops' extra-extra-extra-large orange Camp t-shirt, Annabeth soon joining him, her cheeks wet. Tears soon began to slip from Tyson's eye, too.

It was the best Christmas gift they could have asked for, and Percy resented every day spent without Tyson in his life. And he realized, in Tyson's arms, that the three people with him - brother, girlfriend, and baby - were his family, through and through. This circle was all he needed.

Over the next several days, he hardly left the nursery. He liked to sit in the rocking chair, swinging softly and clutching stuffed owls to his chest, humming lullabies to his baby.

During one of these periods, he realized that the crib reminded him of something.

Those bars from Rachel's sketch looked an awful lot like the ones on the baby's crib, and the giant, terrifying hand was nothing more than Tyson gesturing to the fluffy blankets he had placed within it.

That night, Percy dreamed sweet visions of Annabeth, and he had the feeling that she dreamed of him, too.

 **XXX**

 **Again, thanks for all the support!**


	13. Chapter 13 - January

The sun cascaded gently onto his face, like a warm golden breeze and he smiled, contented. Annabeth was curled up in the grass next to him, her head against his chest and her hand resting delicately on his mountainous belly. The snow that had been sprinkled generously here just days before had melted almost overnight, so they could finally come back to their private little clearing in the woods, free from monsters and other life forms.

Grover and Juniper sat together nearby, holding hands. Being a tree spirit, Juniper usually hibernated with the other dryads during the winter, but she had woken for a few hours to spend time with Percy before the birth of the baby. The time was nearing, as Percy had finally reached his eighth month, and everyone - especially Annabeth and Chiron - was on edge.

Mr. D had become more of a shut-in, wanting no part in anything to do with the baby, and so he was now seldom seen at all, even at mealtimes (he had satyrs bring him his meals in his room). But Apollo had made an appearance or two, grinning handsomely from behind his dark sunglasses and running a tanned hand through his fabulous yellow locks, hinting strongly that he felt the exact opposite to Mr. D.

Percy wasn't too excited at the idea of Apollo helping him in the birthing process, but he had at least another month to think up a good excuse to exclude the sun god. Besides, he much preferred to lie under the sweet winter sun with Annabeth next to him and his baby wiggling inside than to stress about the inevitable future.

Juniper's green-tinted eyes glittered as she watched the two of them lying there so peacefully.

She suddenly turned to Grover, her long carrot hair falling gracefully from her shoulder. "Have you ever thought about having kids?"

The satyr's eyes widened and his tail started twitching nervously. "Uhh… us? Now?"

"In the future," she said, nudging him gently. "Someday."

"Well, yeah," he sputtered. "Someday. Not… not _now_."

Percy chuckled to himself and Annabeth joined him. Juniper smiled and kissed Grover, though he still looked a little anxious.

They were suddenly interrupted by the snapping of a twig nearby in the woods. Annabeth leapt off of Percy, pulling out her knife and crouching, ready to pounce on anything that moved.

As the four of them tried to squint through the dark, shadowy gap between the trees, two small dots suddenly sparked, hovering there in the depths, and a chill ran down Percy's spine.

"Percy - run!" Annabeth growled, and he knew she recognized it, too. The two glowing eyes staring out at them were extremely reminiscent of Rachel's drawing.

But suddenly the eyes called through the trees, "It's okay. It's only me."

The two eyes started to grow larger. A pair of hands, raised in surrender, appeared from between the trees, pale and dirty. They were soon followed by a muddy pair of boots, thin legs in faded black jeans with a dark blade dangling from a belt loop, and a black t-shirt with a skull on it under a beat-up aviator's jacket.

Everyone in the clearing recognized the stranger before they even saw his young, yet prematurely aged face: it was Nico.

Percy got up (with a bit of difficulty) and hugged the thirteen-year-old, holding him as close as was physically possible.

Letting go, Percy smiled down at him, and asked, "Why are you here?"

Nico shrugged, his jacket sliding off one of his bone-thin shoulders. "Needed a place to crash." He eyed Percy with his dark gaze, but there was a light glint twinkling behind it. "You've certainly changed since Halloween."

Percy laughed again, stroking his burgeoning stomach. "Yeah…." Then he gasped. "Oh! It's kicking! Here - feel it!" He grabbed Nico's hand and put it on the right spot.

Nico made a face and tried to pull away. "No, I don't -." He stopped short. He stared down at Percy's belly curiously, squinting, like he was trying to see through to the thing living inside. He pressed his other palm against Percy's stomach tentatively, brow furrowed, now holding him with both hands.

They all watched him with as much curiosity as he was now showing Percy's unborn child, as this was very out of character for the young boy; ever since his sister's passing, he had been becoming more and more distant - although there was that short period during and immediately after the war with Kronos that he had stood at Percy's side, lived at Camp and even laughed and enjoyed life again, but that brief flame had burned out quickly - and he hardly took interest in anything the others did. Even despite the infrequency of his visits, during these times he mostly preferred to hide out in his Cabin, sleeping off his shadow travels, or mindlessly staring at the ceiling, shying away from the sun creeping in between the dark curtains. Camp had become a second, maybe even preferred, home for Percy, but for Nico it was just another campsite, another temporary bed to lay his wayward head against.

Percy would be lying if he said he wasn't pleased (ecstatic, actually) at the interest Nico was showing, the brightness now dancing across the boy's face that hadn't been there since he was ten years old, waving handfuls of Myth-O-Magic cards and slipping through the snow at his sister's side, enraptured by the wonder of the mythological world.

After a curious silence that had felt like minutes, Nico stepped away and said, with an ominous smile, "I know I normally only stay for a few days, but this time I thought I'd try and plan for a bit longer."

Grover, delighted at this statement, skipped up to Nico and offered to escort him to the Hades Cabin. Annabeth, Percy, and Juniper followed, all heavy with happiness.

This was how it should be, Percy thought. All of his friends in one place together.

It couldn't get better than this. And he prayed to the gods that nothing would change this.


	14. Chapter 14 - February

Percy did not, in fact, have over a month to come up with an excuse to give Apollo. His clock timed out halfway into February, a few weeks prematurely.

He called Annabeth in a panic in the middle of the night and she rushed over as quickly as she could, utilizing the strangely convenient and yet still terrifying Chariot of Damnation and (after vomiting thoroughly on Halfblood Hill from the rockiness of the ride) she made her way to the Big House. Some of the rooms of the House were set up to double as temporary infirmary-like facilities and that's where Chiron was keeping Percy now.

Apollo appeared, cracking his knuckles as if he were about to play the piano, smirking with confidence like he helped birth babies every other day, but Percy hollered for him to get out and, with Chiron and Annabeth seconding this opinion, the sun god grudgingly obliged in a golden huff.

The labor was awful. With each searing wave, Percy would shut his eyes so hard he would begin to see stars, but when he reopened them to find Annabeth standing over him, patting a rag to his head, he would feel instantly better. At least, until the next wave would hit.

After going through every curse word he could think of (and even getting creative and making up a few of his own), he soon switched to shrieking in Greek, although it didn't really make the pain ebb any.

This kid better appreciate all he had to go through to give it life.

Stupid babies.

 **XXX**

 **Cliffhangers. Mwa ha haaa.**


	15. Chapter 15

**The final chapter! Thank you to all of you who have been here since the beginning! This was an amazing journey and I hope to see you all again soon.**

 **XXX**

The sun gently floated over the horizon, announcing morning by lazily flowing through the gaps in the blinds with a rosy copper color. Its rays illuminated the dust that hovered in the air, that drifted in invisible breezes made by soft exhalations and silent murmurs, making them look like tiny stars, blanketing the people in the room within their own little universe.

Annabeth brushed her hair back behind her ear. It had come loose from its rough ponytail again, in clumps. Her grey eyes had faded to gentle clouds, which stared at him through the dimness of the room, her face dotted with the winking rays of sunlight that peeked through the gaps in the blinds. She smiled at Percy sleepily, bending over to press her lips to his.

He knew he looked like he'd just gotten beat up in a fight, and, in many ways, he had.

But the rewards were plenty. And worth the battle.

He still lay in the bed, clutching to his chest a small bundle, no larger than a loaf of bread. It was small and pink and wrinkled, a precious little peach, with a small layer of thin fuzz sprouting from the top. It was curled in his arms, sleeping off the rough night it had just had, probably even rougher than the night had been for Percy.

He kissed the soft top of its head, careful not to wake it.

Before this moment, he had always just referred to it as "the baby", never labelling it with a gender. But now he could say with certainty - and with a ballooning sense of pride - that he was now officially the father of a beautiful baby _girl_.

A girl with his hair and Annabeth's eyes.

He wished he could stay forever in this one moment, with his baby sleeping in his arms and Annabeth standing over him in the dark.

And, though he knew this moment would never last, he now truly believed, deep in his mortal soul, that that was not necessarily a bad thing.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The next couple days were a pleasant blur. Everyone wanted to see the baby. Old friends, new friends, people who weren't even friends at all.

Poseidon came, of course, and some of the other gods, too (Apollo hadn't really hidden the disappointment in his normally bright and joyful eyes that he hadn't earned a role in the delivery), including Athena, though Annabeth wasn't too keen on letting her mother near the baby - knowing full well what the goddess had suggested to Percy behind her back. Even Dionysus made a brief appearance and he made a weird face while the baby rested in his arms, a face Percy suddenly realized with mild surprise was a smile.

Tyson didn't get a chance to hold the baby, because as soon as he laid his eye on her he immediately burst into happy tears and escorted himself from the room. Sally couldn't come, as mortals were forbidden from entering Camp, but Percy was still waiting to take on that front, anyway.

Everybody who met the baby wanted to know her name. The two new parents would smile, mischievously, but say nothing. They finally decided to reveal the name a few days after her birth, standing over her while she was cooing in Nico's thin arms. The boy beamed down at the little peach, looking happier than Percy had ever seen him. Other people wanted to hold the baby, too, but Nico wasn't willing to let her go.

Annabeth cleared her throat. "Okay, everyone. We thought long and hard about the name. We wanted to pick something beautiful -."

"- and something that she could live with," Percy added, causing a few chuckles to ripple through the room.

"Yes," Annabeth said. "But we also wanted it to be meaningful. So, without further delay, we would like to officially present to you…." She gestured to Percy, allowing him to be the one to make the official announcement.

He cleared his throat, dramatically.

"Bianca Silena."

Nico emitted a strange noise, like a small whimper, and when Percy glanced at him, he realized that the young boy had started to cry. Annabeth gently pried baby Bianca from him and Percy wrapped one arm tightly around the boy's shoulders.

"I know the name means a lot to you," Percy said, comfortingly. "We thought it would be the perfect way to honor their sacrifices."

Nico sniffled again, louder this time, wiping his nose on his jacket sleeve. "Thank you," he choked. "But… it's not just that…."

"Then, what is it?"

"She… she _is_ Bianca, Percy," he choked. "Bianca wanted to get reborn, right? Well, she did. I thought I could sense it before, but I couldn't be sure of it until I held her in my arms. It's Bianca, I can sense it. It's her soul." And after that he didn't speak again for a long while.

Percy didn't cry. Instead, he started to laugh. And, maybe that might have been taken as rude, but, frankly, he didn't care one bit. Because he'd realized why his baby was meant to make so many people happy, why it was so important to have this baby over any of the others he could have had at any other time.

Athena had been wrong. Athena - the freaking goddess of _freaking wisdom_ \- had been _wrong_.

This baby wasn't destined to take on Kronos. Or even to be part of some "Great Prophecy."

This baby was destined to be a blessing, because this baby gave the people that he loved exactly what they all needed.

This baby brought every friend who had passed on the peace in death that they deserved, because this baby, along with the entire future generation of demigods to come, was their second chance to live on.

And, in her - in Bianca - they did.

 **XXX**

 **Again, thank you for reading. All this support has really made writing seem worthwhile. I do have some other fan fiction story ideas rolling around in the old noggin, but I'm not making any promises. I am currently trying to write a novel and it's taking me a bit longer than expected, so I'm putting off all other writing projects until that's finished.**

 **But I will tell you guys if/when my book gets published! Keep in touch!**

 **Until next time, live long and prosper.**

 **~ Peace out. ~**


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